Steam car heater



Sept. 5, 1939. R. F. MULLEN STEAM CAR HEATER Filed July 9, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 5, 1939. R. F. MULLEN STEAM CAR HEATER Filed July 9, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 P 1939. R. F. MULLEN 2,171,944

STEAM CAR HEATER Filed July 9, 1936 s sheets sheet s Petemea sep s, 1939 Y U IT-so sures em ou Raymond F. Mullen, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a. corporation of Delaware Application m '9, 1936, Serial No. 89,763

' 2 Claims. (Cl. 257-131) This invention relates generally to an improved heating system for motor vehicles, and more particularly to certain improvements in that type of heating system in which the waste heat from 5 the exhaust gases of the internal combustion englue is utilized to generate steam which is supplied to a heater unit to heat the vehicle.

One object of this invention is to so construct the heater unit and heating system as to facilitate l and simplify the installation thereof on a motor vehicle.

A further object is to provide a heater unit which is adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle on the dash board 15 with a portion of the radiator core extending through the dash board into the engine compartment for connection to other parts of the heating system.

A further object is to so construct and arrange 20 the heater unit and air deflectors associated therewith as to provide an improved distribution of the heated air within the passenger compartment. 4

A further object is to provide a heater unit of 25 simple and compact construction, and other objectsreside in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction which will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in

30 which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the heating system as applied to an automotive vehicle.

-' Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the 85 heater unit taken on line 22 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view with parts in elevation, taken substantially on line 40 ll of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail section taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a detail section taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

45 Fig, 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on-line l- -'l of Fig. 4.

- Fig. 8 is a cross section of the radiator core taken substantially on line H of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a modification of 60 the heaterunit.

Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view, with parts in elevation, taken substantially on line ill-l0 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the heater u t or :55 Fig. 9 on a reduced scale.-

is indicated generally at i in the engine compartment which is separated from the body compartment in the usual manner by the dash 2 and floor boards 3. The engine includes the usual exhaust manifold 4 and exhaust pipe 5 and in this and other respects may be generally similar to standard practice. a

The principal parts of the heating system,

which is more fully described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 714,365, filed March 7, 1934, consist of the steam generator or boiler unit indicated generally at 6, a heater unit indicated generally at ll within the body compartment, and a pressure control unit indicated generally at t within the engine compartment.

The boiler unit t is provided with a steam forming chamber in the form of a tube 9 in which steam is generated by heat transfer from engine exhaust gases to the heating medium or liquid and this steam is supplied to a radiator core in the heater unit I through the steam supply conduit it and the condensate returned to the tube 9 through the condensate return conduit l i which is of smaller-diameter than conduit it with a connection i2 between these conduits intermediate the boiler unit and heater unit to facilitate the proper circulation of the heating medium as is fully set forth in the copending application referred to above.

As is also more, fully described in said copending application, the pressure control unit 8 includes a closed chamber which is so constructed and connected to the radiator core of the heater 1 by a conduit I3 as to function to automatically regulate the amount of heating medium in circulation between the boiler and radiator to prevent the development of excessive pressure in the heating system.

Referring now to the details. of construction and mounting of the heater unit I and the connection thereof to other parts of the heating system, the heater unit includes a radiator core M which is supported within the heater casing 15,

as shown in Fig. 4. A vertically positioned elec-v tric motor I6 is mounted on the upper wall of the casing l5 and is adapted to drive the fan I! within the casing above the radiator core which is provided on that portion within the casingwith a plurality of heat radiating flns I8.

The heater casing i5 is provided with air inlet louvers IS in its front and side walls adjacent thefan I! which functions to draw air through these louvers and force the air downwardly over the finned radiator core and the heated air is then discharged through the bottom of the heater casing into the passenger compartment. It is generally customary, because of space requirements, to locate the heater unit on the dash adjacent the right side of the vehicle, and to deflect the heated air towards the center of the vehicle or towards the driver, the bottom opening in the heater casing is provided with a pair of adjustable deflectors 20 which are each pivoted to the heater casing at the right side and may be opened downwardly to various extents to deflect the heated air to the left or permit some of the heated air, if desired, to be discharged downwardly. It should be noted that the deflectors 20 are shown in Fig. 2 in fully closed position and each deflector is provided at its left side with a protruding knob or handle 2| by which it may be manually adjusted about its pivot to any desired extent. To enhance the appearance and assist in the proper distribution of the heated air it should also be noted that the deflectors 20 are curved transversely and their pivots are inclined downwardly towards the rear of the heater unit.

As clearly shown in- Fig. 4, the radiator core it comprises a single tube which is closed at its front end by a plug 22, arid extends rearwardly of the heater casing with its rear end so formed as to provide for the connections to other parts of the heating system. This rear end of the radiator core is adapted to extend through an senger compartment.

The rear portion of the radiator core i4 is flat tened and formed as shown in Fig. 8 to provide three parallel substantially cylindrical passages, the outer of which are of larger cross section than the intermediate passage. The intermediate passage 2i is adapted to receive the control tube 25 and as shown in Fig. 6, the wall of the intermediate passage does not extend to the end of the outer passages and the tube 25 is bent upwardly and provided with a screw-threaded terminal 28 for the connection of the conduit B. The joint between the end of the intermediate passage and the tube 25 may be sealed by silver solder as shown at 21 and silver solder may also be employed to completely close the seams 28 in the inner sidesof the outer passages along the portions thereof which extend beyond the end of the intermediate passage. The outer passage 29 is provided at its end with a terminal 30 for theconnection of the steam supply conduit III and the outer passage 3| is provided at its end with a terminal 32 for the connection of the condensate return conduit ll.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 4, it will be seen that the radiator core I4 is positioned substantially horizontally but inclined downwardly towards the rear of the heater, and also that the rear portion of the radiator core is so formed that the passage 3| which is connected to the condensate return conduit is at a lower level than the passage 29 which is connected to the steam supply conduit so as to facilitate the proper circulation of the heating medium' and provide for the return of the condensate through the conduit I i to the boiler tube 9. v

-As appears from Fig. 4, thecontrol tube 25 is extended within the radiator core- I to the front endthereof and as noted above, is connected by the conduit It to the closed chamber of the pressure control. This pressure control chamber is provided with radiating fins 33 and is located within the engine compartment and functions, as is more fully set forth in my aforesaid pending application, to receive the air from the system and as the steam pressure in the system rises, steam enters this chamber and is condensed and thereby withheld from circulation between the radiator core and boiler until the pressure in the radiator core falls below that of the air which is compressed in the control chamber. Although this pressure control is adapted to prevent excessive pressure in the system a safety means is provided in the form of a pressure relief or rupture plug 34. As shown in the drawings, this plug 34 is secured on the terminal 30 in the engine compartment and it will be The heater unit 1 is secured to the dash 2 by the bolt 35 which extends through the dash into the nut 36 which may be fixed, as by welding, to the rear wall of the heater casing. The rear wall of the heater casing is formed with a flanged opening through which the rear end of theradiator core It extends and as shown in Fig. 4, the flange 31 of this opening is adapted to be received within the opening 23 in the dash to position the heater unit thereon about the bolt 35. The space between the rear wall of the heater casing and the radiator core where it passes through this wall may be sealed by the heat insulating gasket v38.

On the engine side of the dash, the metal plate 39 is interposed between the head of the bolt 35 and the dash and this plate 38 extends across the opening 23 in the dash where it is provided with an opening 40 which is only of such size and shape as shown in Fig. 3, to permit the insertion of the rear end of the radiator core with terminals 28, 30 and 32 therethrough during mounting of the heater unit, after which the pressure relief plug 34 and the conduits III, II and i3 are assembled therewith. The head of the bolt 35 is tapped to receive thescrew 4| which serves to mount the flanged bracket 42 carrying the pressure control chamber.

Referring now to the modification of the heater unit shown in Figs. 9 to 11, similar reference numerals have been applied to those parts which correspond to the parts of the preceding figures of the drawings.

This heater unit differs from that already described in the relative arrangement of the motor- I! extend substantially between, the upper and lower walls of the heater casingwnereas the flns I. of Fig. 4 extend substantially between the side walls of the heater casing. I

The air outlet opening in the side of the heater casing is provided with a pair of adjustable deflectors 20' which are pivotally mounted in the manner shown in Fig. 11. Each of the deflectors 20' is substantially triangular and the upper deflector is pivoted at 43 to the heater casing with the pivotal axis at the upper edge 01' the deflector diagonally arranged or sloping downwardly towards the rear of the casing. The lower deflector is pivoted at 44 to the heater casing with the pivotal axis at the upper edge of the deflector substantially parallel to the lower edge of the upper deflector which is at an angle of approxi-' mately 45 to the horizontal. with this diagonal mounting of the deflectors it will be seen that when opened to any desired extent they will not only direct heated air downwardly but also forwardly of the heater unit. A plurality of slotted openings 45 are also provided in the bottom of the heater casing as shown in Fig. 10 below the radiating fins I! so that when the deflectors 20' are closed, heated air will be discharged downwardly through said openings.

Although the foregoing detailed description. .has

related specifically to the construction shown in 'the drawings, it will be understood that the invention is notin any sense limited thereto but is susceptible of many modifications and alternative constructions which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim: A

1. In a heater, aradiator core comprising a single tube, a portion of the length of said tube being substantially cylindricaL'heat radiating fins secured on said cylindrical portion, and a portion of the length of said tubebeing flattened and so formed as to provide for the connection of a plurality of conduits thereto.

2. In a heater, the combination with'a casing,

of a motordriven fan and radiator core within said casing, a single bolt adapted to secure said casing to the dash of an automobile, said radiator core extending through said casing and adapted to extend through an opening in the dash, and means on said casing adapted to engage within said opening to' position said casing relative thereto.

RAYMOND MULLEN. 

